Dedicated beach bum and unrepentant affection hog, Ronan is our home-grown , high velocity couch clown. His name was picked out by an Irish pal of mine , and is an ancient Celtic word with several meanings ; a promise, a pledge, and a “little seal”. Very early on in life, Ronan took his name to heart and decided that he was, indeed, part seal.

He’s a super-soaker swamphound, and loves water even more than his sire Gideon. He adores watching, playing with, and diving into any sort of water. Clean, dirty, salty, fresh, a trickle, a stream, a puddle, a pond, an ocean, it mostly doesn't seem to matter to him . The only bodies of water he's ever been the least bit suspicious of are full sized swimming pools, and bathtubs clearly set up to wash dogs . He spent much of his young puppyhood splashing and diving into the kiddie pool in my yard, and getting into trouble stalking the garden hose.

His super soaker antics at home became increasingly more hazardous to the floors and furniture as he grew, so the kiddie pool in the yard was discontinued before algae started growing on his fur and on the couch. The couch is actually already green, but a green Silken Windhound would be more difficult to explain.

Ronan has been limited to pursuing his aquatic interests at home only when the garden is watered, but is allowed much more extensive research on our trips out to the Pacific Ocean.

Ronan loves playing with other sighthounds, especially his silken windhound siblings. He has been involved heavily in researching effective play techniques with slower breeds of dog , but it's plain to see that at this age, in his heart he clearly prefers his play at a higher speed. He is lucky to have several siblings and half siblings regularly indulge his preferences by coming out at the beach for romps through the surf. Many of them, like his half sister Dita, and his full brother Loki also share his passion for speed and all things aquatic.

His main partner in canine crime is his full sister Sazi. She is his best canine pal and best playmate. When not asleep, or charging around on the beach, they can often be seen at Talisman wrestling, playing tag, or hanging onto either end of a sock or a shirt they have fished out of the closet. We’ve had several wardrobe casualties caused by this dynamic tugging duo.

Ronan is , actually, underneath all that white, a red brindle dog. The only way you can tell at all about what his color really is, is to look at his ears, which have some very tiny spots of red brindle on them. His nose and eye pigment are black, and his eyes are so black that it’s hard sometimes to see his pupils. There are now several mostly white Silken Windhounds in the breed , which is a big change from just a few years ago, when there were none at all !

Ronan’s a very affectionate and social boy, and really loves just about all people, especially children of all ages. At home, when not playing with his sire Gideon or his sister Sazi, he is usually trying to drape himself over a person, or rolling around trying to get someone, anyone, to rub his belly. He's at his most blissfull when he's managed to surround himself with a number of kids or adults all willing to pet him at the same time.

In his very first IABCA show weekend of four shows and four judges in Antioch Ca in 2005, Ronan was a Multiple Best Puppy in Breed winner and Best in Hound Puppy Group winner over many other AKC and rare hound breeds. His wins at the age of 9 months made him a puppy champion in the IABCA venue, earning him the title of JU.A Ch.

Ronan has had a strong showing at Rarities NAKC shows, and has really been maturing into a lovely show hound .

In December of 06, under AKC judge Marilyn Dromgoole, he went Winners Dog for his first five point major, then went Best of Breed over several Specials , Best in Group, and then went all the way to be awarded Reserve Best in Show!

In April of 07, Ronan really came into his own, getting his Ch in Rarities, garnering several Best of Breed awards, and under judge Catherine Croft, going all the way to get his first Best in Show ribbon !

Ronan has many good points that will hopefully carry on into the breed in the future . He's got a perfect scissors bite , large teeth, a long graceful neck, very dark almond-shaped eyes, balanced angles, sound, strong and balanced movement, substance, black pigment, and a very long, well carried tail wtih fringing that drags five inches long on the ground when he's standing .

Ronan, seen here above with his pal Rhett, is like his dam Sheba and sire Gideon, in that he loves to run!

He's had a very nice start to his race career in the fall of 2006, despite the fact that there wasn’t a pond or an ocean at the end of the race he easily could dive into.

Ronan started off his first day in his racing career with two first place finishes, barreling up the course to win. His third race of the day, he wound up actually finishing the race first, but ran so wide he didn't actually pass over the official finish line!

At his second race day, even though I am very sure his head isn't quite wrapped around the game as yet, Ronan blazed his way to win his races and his first two points towards his Straight Racing Championship! He has alot of power and speed, so we're really looking forward to the race when all his goofy brain cells kick in!

On 3/28/2008 Ronan became a father for the first time ! Siring a litter out of the lovely and tiny 19 1/2 inch tall Kristull Xerox. This is a co bred litter between Renaissance Hounds and Talisman Hounds, and the three girls and two boys were born in Iowa! The litter theme is " Noble Metals ".

We’re really looking forward to seeing Ronan continue to develop. His striking looks, love for running, and lovely movement are making their mark in the show ring and at the races!

Ronan's Pedigree

DOB:1/20/2005

Height : 25 inches

Reg # : 2005-140/05

Health Tests

MDR1: Carrier

OFA Cardio :
2007
Normal SWH-CA7/27M/C-PI
2005
Normal SWH-CA7/13M/P-PI

OFA Thyroid :
2007
Normal SWH-TH5/27M-PI
2005
Normal SWH-TH5/13M-PI

CERF:
2007
Normal SWH-112/2007--28

2005
Normal SWH-112/2005--11